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# Ceremonial Magic

#### by Adam Bank

The copyright of this article remains with the original author. Articles may be copied or distributed freely for personal non-profit use, provided that the author is properly credited.

### Ceremonial Magic: +1 Virtue

In the days before the Order, the study of magic was tightly interwoven with the practice of religion. The Cult of Mercury, the shape-shifting tradition of Bjornaer, the mystical tradition of Criamon, and the nature worship of Merinita and Diedne all had their roots in ancient theology. The working of magic as an act of worship has fallen into disuse, but has not been entirely forgotten. Magi with the Ceremonial Magic Virtue can gather together and, as part of an act of faith, combine their magical abilities more dramatically than any Wizard's Communion.

### Requirements for Ceremonial Magic

Ceremonial magic must always be performed in a group; a magus cannot practice ceremonial magic alone. Practitioners of ceremonial magic must have a philosophy of magic that goes beyond theory and approaches theology. Religious belief per se is not necessarily required. Criamon magi, for example, do not worship a higher power, yet their mysticism can bond them together during a magical ceremony.

All magical ceremonies must have a leader who conducts the ceremony. The group of magi assisting the leader in the ritual can be no larger than the leader's Com + Leadership. The leader must either know the spell to be cast during the ceremony, or must cast it from a text. Casting from text is much more common.

Ceremonial magic involves rituals, chants, and the all the other trappings of the occult. The leader of the ceremony chooses which occult tradition to follow. As such, all participants of a magical ceremony must not only have the Ceremonial Magic Virtue, but must either a) come from the same tradition as the leader or b) have each performed enough research to participate. Exactly how much research is "enough" is up to the storyguide, and should be based on how esoteric the occult tradition being followed in the ceremony is. A rule of thumb: when in doubt, require a season's worth of research and a stress die + Int + Occult roll of 12+.

### Performing the Ceremony

The spell to be cast must be determined before the ceremony begins.

A magical ceremony itself lasts 15 minutes per magnitude of the spell to be cast (the spell level divided by 5). No rolls need be made during the ceremony itself, but players must follow the same rules for distraction and interrupting as casting spells.

Once performed, the leader attempts to cast the spell. If the leader is casting from a text, follow the rules on page 78 of the rulebook. If the spell itself is a ritual, time spent performing the ceremony counts toward the time needed to cast the spell. Either from text or from memory, the spell casting roll is modified as follows in addition to all traditional modifiers:

The scores of each participants appropriate Techniques and Forms are added to the roll.

The storyguide can reward an "appropriate ritual" bonus of -5 to +5, depending on how well the occult tradition followed "fits" the spell being cast.

Botches usually affect the entire group rather than just the leader.

### Example

The young magus Tempestus has "had it up to here" with the pirates operating out of a coastal Nordic town, so he decides to sink the place. He wants to cast Wrath of Whirling Winds and Water, an infamous CrAq 60 spell he stole from the private library of an elder magus. His Int + Creo + Aq is a mere 13, not nearly enough for him to learn it, and making casting from a text extremely unlikely.

Unfortunately for the pirates, Tempestus and two of his friends (Alpha and Beta) are occultists with Ceremonial Magic. Tempestus' Communication is +2, and his Leadership is 1, for a total of 3, so he can easily handle 2 participants. Each spends a season researching the old ways of Merinita before that House devoted itself to the Fae. Each rolls a Int + Occult of 12+, and they are ready to sink the village.

Because the spell is a 60th level ritual, Tempestus gathers 12 pawns of Aquam vis to cast it. The three friends journey to a desolate bluff in sight of the offending village, and begin their ceremony.

The ceremony takes 3 long hours as they invoke ancient spirits of nature whose names have not be spoken for centuries (a 60th level spell = 12 magnitudes. 12 x 15 minutes = 180 minutes = 3 hours). Tempestus brought some grogs with him to make sure he was not interrupted.

At the end of the ceremony, Tempestus reads the spell and offers the vis to the gods. Usually, reading a 60th level ritual from text takes 6 hours (12 magnitudes x 30 minutes = 360 minutes = 6 hours). The magi have already spent 3 hours in ritual, however, which are counted toward the total time needed. Alpha and Beta sit in anticipation while Tempestus reads for another 3 hours.

Tempestus' player then rolls to cast the spell…

Tempestus' total to cast the spell is 45: 3 (Tempestus' Intelligence) + 8 (Tempestus' Creo) + 2 (Tempestus' Aquam) + 10 (Alpha's Creo) + 5 (Alpha's Aquam) + 10 (Beta's Creo) + 4 (Beta's Aquam) + 3 (storyguide's bonus for using nature worship to create a storm) + 0 (the aura).

He rolls a 3, for a total of 48, 12 levels away from his goal. According to the rules of reading from a text, Tempestus loses 3 Fatigue levels, and the spell is cast.

The village is completely washed away.

### Ramifications

Ceremonial magic relies on rituals crafted before Bonisagus invented his universal theory of magic, when the power of the typical, individual magus was subdued. Thus, Ceremonial Magic is a great help to young and middle-age magi, but becomes of less and less use as the individual magus grows in power (unless the magi get their hands on 100th level spells...)